My Door Was Always Open: Mother's Day Brunch, Part III

MERCEDES, who now lives on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, has been coming to the Pfister for many years since her daughter MARIA moved to Milwaukee from the South Bronx almost twenty years ago. This winter, she came to Milwaukee to support MARIA through back surgery, then stayed on through her recovery (interestingly, MARIA lives on Milwaukee’s Lower East Side). This Mother’s Day Brunch is a good opportunity for “the corporation” to enjoy a meal, memories, and laughter together. The hotel Narrator, DOMINIC, has soon become less Narrator and more “guest family member.”

The lively exchange–and by “lively” the playwright means LOUD, EXUBERANT, VOCIFEROUS, CLAMOROUS, EMPHATIC, all in the best ways–rises above the surrounding tables’ gentle fork-scraping and mild conversation. Surprisingly, DOMINIC doesn’t care that more than a few heads turn toward the table, wondering what could possibly be so interesting or funny. Some probably find the volume rude. But the brunch continues uninhibited.

MARIA: I moved to Milwaukee in 1998. I loved a man who brought me here for his job then dumped me six months later. I had moved for work, too: I was an immigration officer.

MERCEDES: She’s retired now.

MARIA: Unfortunately, after he dumped me, I knew nobody. But the minute I wandered into the doors of the Pfister, I knew I was at home.

DOMINIC: So you just wandered in?

MARIA: Yeah, it must have been hot. Or I was looking for a place to rest, maybe stay. I mean, I was a poor Puerto Rican from the South Bronx, but (slowly) I like high-end stuff. So, I knew that this was my kind of place.

MERCEDES: And everyone was so nice to you, too, right?

MARIA: Yeah. First, I met the bartender, then the piano player. I loved to just sit by the fireplace and read the newspaper.

MERCEDES bends over and whispers to me.

MERCEDES: She would get high enough that she would stand on the piano and belt out songs.

MARIA: I heard you mom. Yes, I’d get “high enough” to get on a piano and sing. I made people laugh. Our family believes extremely in “Live for the moment,” you know. I mean, I could walk out of here and get hit by a bus, so, it’s important. (looking at DOMINIC) It’s so important that you are so cute that I want to . . .

Strategically, someone at the table starts humming a tune from West Side Story again.

KELLEY: Well, we arean honest bunch!

Just then, MUNY, one of the banquet servers, approaches to refill our champagne and water. She stands directly behind MARIA, who grasps her by the hand.

Muny and Maria, a match made possible by The Pfister Hotel.

MARIA: Me, I like to go into the interior . . . you know, the people and stories in the background. To know that the service is so good wherever you go within the Pfister, especially from Muny. She wasMuñecawhen I met her fifteen years ago. Muny’s mom, auntie, and more–they all worked at the Pfister, too. You know, she’s the heart and soul of this place, of this brunch. It’s not only about the atmosphere and the beautiful things.

MUNY: Everyone calls me the “Brunch Lady.”

MARIA: Yes, Muny, you are the “Brunch Lady” that everyone requests.

Squeezes MUNY’s hand as MUNY exits with a wide smile that never seems to leave her face.

Growing up, our house was always filled with people, whether black, white, green, yellow. Our house was like a revolving door. There was always a place for Puerto Ricans, or Muny’s, or . ..

MERCEDES: It’s like it was in Little Italy–you have to visit Little Italy. We used to go to Pellegrino’s all the time.

MARIA: We’d call it P.J.’s.

MERCEDES: Yes, P.J.’s for short.

DOMINIC: Is it still there?

MERCEDES: Ah, yes. We haven’t been there for awhile, but you should if you visit. They would see us coming and have a bottle of wine ready, then we’d stay after with the maître d’, Anthony, until two or three in the morning. (smiles proudly)

MARIA: That’s what it’s all about.

Everyone at the table confirms this with nods and approving smiles.

MERCEDES: I’ll have to go back there soon. Back to that “open door” Maria mentioned: I couldn’t stand seeing kids on the street. And back then, the youth had so many problems they had to deal with. So if one of the kids was a boy, then I’d let him stay in my son’s room until he could get things together. I never put a kid out. My door was always open.

LIZA: Just like at Pellegrino’s. You were strict, though.

Everyone at the table confirms this with nods and approving smiles.

We called you “the fly swatter.”

MERCEDES:(to DOMINIC) I was the fly swatter. Sometimes these kids needed a (she “swats” DOMINIC’s shoulder like she were dusting it off) little fly swat. It was hard living back then.

DOMINIC: But your door was always open. That’s what matters, huh?

Everyone at the table confirms this with nods and approving smiles. They make a toast to open doors and things that matter.